Tea at Trianon: How to Address the Clergy

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

How to Address the Clergy

Father Mark Kirby alias Don Marco has an informative post about monastic etiquette and the beautiful theology behind it. Here is some additional information, as well, on the proper way to address bishops, priests and nuns. I am always slightly irritated when people call a priest or bishop solely by their last name, without the prefix of "Father" or "Bishop." The reason usually given is that if someone is a heretic or a liberal or just "not nice," then they do not merit the correct title. That is so false. The office is holy even if the man is not, for it is the office of Christ. Anyway, it is not for us to judge, but to offer people the respect due them, as the virtue of justice requires. Share

2 comments:

SuzanneG said...: Elena~Where does "Dame" come from? I'm reading In This House of Brede. And they say "Dame". Don Marco says they say "Suor" or "Sorella".....which is "sister"...so why do they say "Dame" in English?; April 1, 2007 at 1:55:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: "Dame" just means "Lady." Benedictine abbesses had an almost aristocratic status in the Middle Ages and I think that the title "dame" hearkens back to that tradition. I think the ordinary nuns are just called "sister."; April 1, 2007 at 2:01:00 PM EDT